ISLAMABAD: The production of jeeps and cars witnessed positive growth of 8.72 percent during the half of the current fiscal year over the production of the same period of last year.

The production of jeeps and cars increased to 68,990 units during July-December (2011-12) as compared to the production of 63,456 units during July-December (2010-11), according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data.

The production of jeeps and cars also witnessed positive growth of 8.87 percent during the month of December as compared to the same month of last year.

As many as 9,402 jeeps and cars were produced during December 2011 against the production of 8,636 units in December 2010, the data revealed.

On the other hand, the production of motorcycles during July-December (2011-12) witnessed increase of 7.19 percent as compared to the first six months of last year.

As many as 824,911 motorcycles were produced during the first six months of the current year as against the production of 769,569 units during the same period of last year.

However, the motorcycle production during December 2011 decreased to 130,780 units against the production of 143,827 units in December 2010, showing negative growth of 9.07 percent, the data revealed.

Meanwhile, the production of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) witnessed nominal decrease of 0.88 percent during the first six months.

The LCV production decreased from 8,961 units last year to 8,882 units this year, according to the data.

But the production of LCVs decreased by 21.70 percent during December 2011 to reach 1,252 units against the production of 1,599 units during the same month of last year.

The production of tractors, trucks and buses also witnessed negative growth of 58.97 percent, 23.74 percent and 9.92 percent respectively during the first half of current year.

However production of trucks increased 9.18 percent in December 2011 against the production of last December but the production of tractors and buses decreased by 78.34 percent and 5.56 percent respectively during the months under review.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) sector has registered positive growth of 0.83 per cent during the first half (July-December) of the current financial year 2011-12 against the same period last year.

The Quantum Index Number (QIM) of LSM industries stood at 105.5 1 points in July-December 2011-12 as compared to 104.65 points of July-December 2010-11.

Similarly, this sector has registered healthy growth of over 18 per cent in the month of December 2012 against November 2011. The Quantum Index Number of LSM industries stood at 118.24 points in December 2011 as compared to 100.01 points of November 2011.